11 Jun Eurasian Classical Empires and Early River-Valley Civilizations
Analyze the relative merits and drawbacks to living in the Eurasian Classical Empires and Early
River-Valley Civilizations. Your essay should include the following empires: Persian, Greek (Spartan and
Athenian), Hellenistic (Alexander the Great), Rome, India, China, Mesopotamian, Egyptian. Finally, in
which classical Eurasian empire would you prefer to live? Why do you think women’s lives in the ancient
world were typically subservient to men? What were the traditional roles that all women had in these
societies? Did these roles change sometimes for women of the upper classes? How were they different for
women of the lower classes? What reasons might exist to help understand the differences from one society
to another? Use evidence (add to your insights on women’s position in cultures we had examined) from
your textbook including the documents and visual sources to support your points (evidence for changing
gender roles: shift from matrilineal societies, gender-based craft specialization, religious functions, etc.).
For example, documents in “Thinking through Sources”-Chapter 5 refer to “Patriarchy and Women’s
Voices”.